A Baby and A Wedding
by TC Morgan
Summary: Nick and Judy have been secretly dating for a year and a half now so its no surprise that Nick wants to pop the question. But, when a baby gets thrown into the mix, will plans change for better or for worse? I DO NOT OWN ZOOTOPIA NOR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS. Please read, review and stay tuned for more chapters!
1. Chapter 1

Nick P. Wilde stared out at the blaze as the flames that had once lit the night sky began to dwindle. He fought back wrapping a protective arm around Judy Hopps's shoulder as Chief Bogo sauntered over to them after placing a nefarious looking Armadillo into his squad car. "Hopps, Wilde," he called, "good job catching the arsonist that's been plaguing our city. Citizens can sleep easy now knowing that they're houses wont go up in a puff of smoke."

"But, but there were innocent mammals in there," Judy said as she looked numbly at the wreckage that had previously been a home, "foxes, and they didn't make it out. We, we were too late."

Chief Bogo sighed and shrugged, "You cant save 'em all Hopps, no matter how hard you try. Its a cold hard fact that you're going to have to get used to unfortunately, but look on the bright side. Because of your brilliant police work, this deviant will be behind bars for a long time. Now then, both of you to the hospital after this," he said as he began to walk away, " smoke inhalation is no joke and I wont have two of my best officers dying in their sleep from it because they didn't get checked out. And take the rest of the week off to recover."

"Yes, sir, thank you, sir," Nick said but Judy didn't respond. He knew that she wanted to cry. He had known her too long not to notice it and even though he had taught her expertly how to hide her emotions from everyone else, she could never hide them from him. Although her nose didn't twitch, the droop in her ears told him everything that he needed to know. "Carrots," he whispered to her, " Carrots, Judy," she still didn't respond but instead stared out into the darkness where the house had been. Nick chanced a glance behind them and when he saw that no one was looking, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in for a hug. "Baby, its ok," he whispered so low that he had to wonder whether or not he had actually spoken out loud or only thought up the words in his mind. But he knew that she had heard him because she gripped his tattered uniform shirt firmly and rubbed her soot covered face on chest as if she could gain some kind of comfort for the beating of his heart. Their uniforms were badly singed from chasing Armando, the goon for hire, through the dwelling once they found him after he had set the fire. Nick knew that she was getting a face full of smoke as well but ignored that fact though as he pulled her closer, their affection hidden from prying eyes by burnt and fallen debris. "We did our best," he continued as he petted the fur of her head soothingly, "and we did catch him. I'm sure the family inside went to sleep peacefully and didn't feel a thing. Besides," he said hopefully, " he'll never be able to do this again, probably get the chair." Judy's ears perked up suddenly and Nick smiled, thinking that he was finally getting through to her. He was about to say something else to her but she turned away from him.

"Judy?"

"I hear something,"

Nick looked around. There was nothing but smoke and charred wood around them. It was possible that she was hearing them settling but he heard nothing. "Where?" he said his eyes still searching.

"Over there," she replied as she stepped out of his arms and ran over to a heap of debris. Together they dug into it. Their paws were sore and raw, but finally a patch of dark fur appeared. "HELP!" Judy yelled, "WE NEED A MEDIC OVER HERE, HURRY!" Nick could hear the rustle of fast moving paws headed toward them but concentrated heavily on moving the large wooden rafter that was crushing the creature beneath it. With strength that he didn't know that he had, Nick pulled it off to reveal a sable colored female fox. She was barely breathing but she opened her eyes just as Judy knelt to check her vitals. With the fox's waning strength, she waved her away.

"No," she gasped weakly, "not, me, my, save my …." the sable fox went silent and stilled.

Nick looked down at the female fox, his chest heaving. "Save? Save her what?" he yelled in frustrated confusion, the night finally getting to him.

Judy, on the other hand, didn't share her partner's uncertainty, for she knew what the now deceased fox had been trying to say. Without hesitation but with great reverence, she rolled the vixen over to reveal a new born fox cub still tightly wrapped in its mother's arms. It didn't quite cry but whimpered, it being so young that its eyes weren't even open yet. Nick looked on, lost for words as Judy took the baby gingerly into her arms and held it against her chest. Two EMTs reached them just in time for them to see her cooing the little cub until it fell silent but it began to instinctively try to suckle one of her buttons. "She's the mother," Nick said to the Emergency Services Workers as he pointed to the corpse that lay beside him but he never took his eyes off of Judy and the baby that she cradled in her arms.


	2. Chapter 2

Nick held the door open to their rented room as Judy walked in with the baby fox swaddled snugly in her arms and it yawned and gurgled as she sat down on the bed. He couldn't help but notice that its gray fur and dark tipped ears gave it a look similar to that of Judy and from the way that she held it, anyone looking on would think that she was just the mother of an odd looking bunny. She dropped her bag on the floor and rummaged through it as Nick pulled off his shirt and took out a half full baby bottle. He went to pull of his pants next but she gave him a look that froze him in his tracks. "What?" he asked as he pulled one leg out of his uniform trousers.

"The baby needs more milk. And he'll need teething crackers and a few pacifiers, not to mention a couple of bottles and diapers."

"Now see here Carrots," Nick said warningly, "I'm tired, dead tired as are you and probably it. We all had a long night and need some rest. And remember our deal, we're only keeping it until child services can place it with a family. We're not getting attached and we're not buying the entire baby department of Mousy's."

"Ok, so first off, 'it', isn't an 'it' but a he and he _needs_ things, no matter where he is."

"I totally agree, _he_ needs things and the _city_ can provide those _things_ for him just like any other orphan." The look in Judy's had gone from one of defiance to that of cute pleading. She knew it was a look that he couldn't resist but he tried to anyway. "Come on Cotton Tail, I know you and I'm trying to help you out. If you get too attached to him, it's going to absolutely kill you when we have to give him up to be adopted."

Judy smiled and nuzzled her nose to little fox cub's. "We could always adopt him," she said softly, "after all, didn't you tell me before that we could since we can't have children of our own."

Nick looked at her wide mouthed. "In the future Judy, the future, after we've moved out a smelly one bed rented room into an actual apartment. And marriage was in the mix too, I distinctively remember mentioning marriage first."

"Nick," Judy said, making her violet purple eyes look huge, "please, for me?"

The red furred fox cursed under his breath knowing that he had lost the argument and opening their single drawer, he pulled out some clean clothes. Dressing quickly, he threw on his jacket, still mumbling to himself as Judy held the bottle to the cub's lips. Despite his anger, he couldn't help but notice how perfect the scene in front of him looked. Judy staring lovingly into the face of the innocent looking male cub and it lacing its tiny little paws through the fur of her chest, completely and unequivocally trusting her. Despite knowing the kind of mammal Judy was , it was still odd for him to see a creature other than another fox treating an infant of his species with such loving care. Most would have held it at an arms length but not Judy. She sat cradling it to her chest as if the baby had been fathered by him and birthed by her. Not even the sharp teeth that were begining to sprout forth from its gums gave her pause as she teased it's tiny little nose and fangs and it nuzzled closer. Nick opened the door to leave but then turned back around. "You know Carrots," he said with a smile, "if we could make a baby together, you'd make a really good mom but that little guy needs to be with other foxes." Judy was about to speak but he raised his paw to stop her, "and by other foxes, I mean ones that aren't in love with purple eyed bunnies with save-the-world complexes. I'm serious, he's here for today but then he's got to go. Its only right."

"I know Nick, I know, but for the time being, I'm not going to place some hay in a box for him and then shove him in a corner until CPS comes. Everyone needs someone, especially this little guy." Nick looked at the fox cub who seemed to coo in agreement and he sighed. Something about the little creature made him uneasy but he brushed the feeling off. "We don't have the room we don't have the space. We keep him until the state comes for, him that's it."

"Fine, Nick, fine," she said still holding the baby against her. As if sensing Judy's feelings, the infant began to cry and sighing again, Nick left out closing and locking the door behind him.

He didn't drive. It wasn't that he didn't know how, it was just that he was more sure when his feet met the pavement and not a pedal. At this point though, he seemed to be reconsidering that moto as his paws began to grow sore and wary from walking so far and carrying so many bags. He had originally set out only to get a few thing but text after text just kept coming from Judy and the list got longer and longer. Nick smiled with relief as he happened upon the Otterton floral shoppe and knowing that he would most certainly find a friend there, he walked inside.

"Oh, well isn't this a pleasant surprise," Mrs. Otterton said from behind the counter and she came out to hug him warmly. "Are you here visiting on Emit?"

"Yes, Ma'am, is he here?"

"Sure is, with that work bench of his. You just head right on back."

"Thank you Ma'am," he said as he headed to the back room and opening the door, there Mr. Otterton sat, faithfully at his old work bench dutifully clipping away at the stems of flowers. The middle aged otter looked up from his glasses and smiled as Nick walked in. "Nick,"

"Emit!" Nick said fondly.

"Come, come, take a load off. You look tired, drop your bags over there and have a seat. There's some water that you rest your feet in under the table."

"I was only stopping by," Nick said as he placed his bags in a corner and sat down, "and I'll only be a minute."

"Of course , of course," the otter said as he watched him pull the pail filled with water from beneath the table. The fox sighed as he placed his sore feet into the cool liquid and threading his fingers together, he placed them behind his head and got comfortable. "Judy's got me running so many errands today, I think that my feet are going to fall off. Women, am I right?"

"Sure nuff," the otter said as he looked back down at his flowers and continued his work. Soon though, the room was filled with the snores of a very tired fox.

By the time Nick opened his eyes again, it was mid afternoon. He yawned and stretched out as Mr. Otterton ate a fish and kelp cheese sandwich in silence. "I always enjoy our little talks Emit," he said groggily, as he stood and wiped his feet on a towel that the kindly otter had left on the floor. Mr. Otterton chuckled softly, "Well I'm afraid that you're going to enjoy them a lot less in a few minutes. Judy's here."

"What?!" Nick said as his ears folded back in concerned shock, "does she know that I'm here too?"

"No, but that's because the Mrs.' hasn't gotten around to telling her yet. Why are you so nervous though?"

Nick sighed, " I was supposed to be home hours ago. I swear, even though that bunny is knee high to a garden gnome, she has a temper like an rhino when I'm late." He laughed a little as he rubbed the back of his neck, "Its kinda cute really. Her ears fold back and her nose gets all twitchy and her voice goes high pitched, well more high pitched than usual."

"Sounds more like a minor nuisance, than something to be nervous about," Emit said before biting into his sandwich again but he didn't pry any further. He was good for that, knowing when to stop when he felt that someone didn't want to say more. It was one of the reason's why Nick had come to enjoy his company in the first place.

" I can't argue with you there Em," Nick said as he paced back and forth in the small room, "let me ask you this, just for laughs, how did you propose to Mrs. Otterton?"

Mr. Otterton looked at the fox over the rim of his glasses. "Well, I just asked her. Nothing big, nothing opulent, she already knew that I loved her. It was just a matter of making it official for everyone else. That's all a wedding is. But things were a little different back then. Every moment of ones life wasn't captured in pictures on social media. There was something more intimate about that time, something more private."

" Me and Judy's relationship is nothing but private," Nick said to himself but Mr. Otterton heard him and smiled.

"Sometimes the best relationships are the ones that are kept private. Are you planning on taking things further?"

"I am actually, I've been saving paychecks for nearly a year now to buy her the ring that she deserves."

"Judy doesn't seem like the type to care about what kind of ring she gets but I of course I could be wrong."

"No, no, you're right but I care though," Nick said as he leaned against the wall.

"Aren't the two of you going to need to move? What's the point of a big fancy ring if you're living in a space so small, you can't start a family?"

"The room we rent is convenient, its just a train ride away from away from the precinct."

"You know, as you get older, the definition of convenient changes many times," Mr. Otterton said as he took his glasses off and began to clean then with a piece of cloth, "the Mrs.' and I purchased the house right next to ours. It was supposed to be a work space for me but I ultimately couldn't give my little work bench and this backroom. I'd be willing to sell it to you for cheap."

Nick raised an eyebrow. He was naturally suspicious of other mammals, even ones he was friendly with. That was how he'd survived for so long but he had to keep reminding himself that if trust was earned, then it should be given. And Mr. Otterton for his part had earned his trust, still, old habits died hard. "How cheap is cheap?" he asked cautiously.

The otter laughed as he placed his glasses back on the bridge of his nose. "Cheap is for as much as you have saved up in the bank for a ring."

Now it was Nick's turn to laugh. "Emit, old buddy, if you had caught me a few years ago back when I was a street hustler making two hundred dollars a day, you might have been able get a better bargain but I'm on policemammal's pay now. I can barely make two ends meet without robbing Peter to pay Paul, figuratively speaking, of course."

Mr. Otterton said nothing for short while but picked up a stem clippers and went back to work. "Did you know that I used to be a Marine Otter, Nick?" he said quietly as he clipped away.

"Marine," Nick said shocked, "but you can't swim."

"You're right and I also was a bad shot and I waddled when I walked but my Mrs.'" he said whimsically, "she didn't care. She just loved me all the same. And on a Marine's pay, especially one as inept as I was, I made less than you do but someone gave me a chance. My wife's father, he knew I didn't have much so he made me an offer that I've never forgot to this day. He said, "Son, I'm gonna give you three options. You like like plants right? Well, I can give you a fruit, a tree, or a seed.' I asked him what did he mean but he wouldn't explain so I thought for a moment and then said a seed. That's when he smiled and handed me an envelope with twenty thousand dollars in it. Years later, after Chester was born and my wife's mother past, he explained to me what he meant. If I had chosen the 'fruit' , he would have paid for his daughter's ring. If I had chosen the 'tree', then he would have paid for the wedding itself but since I chose the seed, he gave me his entire life savings to start a family. Things were cheaper back then so I'd been able to buy our first home and this business with the money that he gave me. Do you have a father, Nick?"

"No," the fox said flatly, not wanting to add more and Mr. Otterton, picking on his caginess, didn't press him further.

"Me nether," he said, "lost him when I was young in the Great Amphibian War,"

Nick grimaced at the mention of the war. "The GAW was brutal," he said and then looked down and rubbed the back of his neck again. "I'm sorry."

"It's ok, my father-in-law was like a father to me so it all ended up well but my point is, without his assistance early on, I would have never been able to have made a comfortably life for my family. Everybody deserves a leg up in life, Nick, and I'm offering you one."

Nick shook his head, "Thanks Emit but houses are for families with children and we don't have any of those yet."

"Life can surprise you," the sage old otter said as Nick headed to the door.

"You know, the funny thing about life that is almost never surprises me anymore."

"Then you've stopped living."

Nick turned around and stared at him confused but the otter kept his head down, still engrossed in his work. He was tempted to ask him what he meant by that but decided against it. Judy was up front with Mrs. Otterton and she probably knew by now that he was there so he wasn't going to keep her waiting. Nick picked up his bags. "Thanks for rest stop, Emit, let me know if you need anything, ok?

"You let _me_ know," Mr. Otterton said as his padded paws continued to make a delicate arrangement using daises and marigolds.

"Yeah," Nick said dismissively, "take care."

"You too."

"Oh, bless him, bless him, bless him," Nick heard Mrs. Otterton say as he headed to where she and Judy were standing toward the front of the store. "Isn't he just the cutest." The motherly otter stood there holding the little fox cub lovingly in her arms as Judy watched smiling proudly.

"Yes, we're still trying to find out if he has any family about. If not, this poor little guy is going to Family Services." Judy reached out and tickled his little chin and the infant laughed. Nick noticed that its eyes had opened while he was away but there was something else too. A mark. On the little cub's right paw. He could see it clearly now as the cub flailed its chubby little paws around while the two women showered him with attention. Nick felt something growing within him like a ball slowly inflating in the pit of his stomach. Anger, fear, sadness, confusion, they all seemed to be vying for control of his mind but for the life of him, he couldn't figure out why. He did his best to tamp them down as he ambled up to Judy

"Officer Hopps ," he called with a slick smile forming on his face, "shopping around for parents for this little guy? Well you're too late, this lovely couple already has two children. Let's try that wonderful elephant that loves foxes so much. What was his name, oh yes Jerry Jumbeaux, I'm sure he'd love a little fox cub."

"Hardy har har, Nick," Judy said as she placed a paw on her hip, "I'm not going to ask where you've been all morning but did you get the supplies that I asked for?"

"Sure did, everything except the carrot flavored pacifier. He's a fox, we don't do that."

"Oh?" Judy said, a smirk of her own forming. She reached into her pocket and pulled out an orange and green pacifier wrapped in plastic. When the baby saw it, he squirmed in Mrs. Otterton's arms, reaching for it with chubby little paws and making whining sounds. Unwrapping it, Judy handed the pacifier to him and he quickly plopped it in his mouth.

"Well," Mrs. Otterton said surprised, I guess this little one does like carrots."

"That his does," Nick said slowly, doing his best not to eye the baby suspiciously. "Well we better be off."

Judy hugged Mrs. Otterton and then gently took the baby back into her arms. "It was great visiting with you, hope to do it again some time soon," she said as Nick, who's paws were heavily laden with bags, held the door open for her.

"I can't wait and don't forget to bring that charming little fox back with you."

"She wouldn't dream of leaving me behind," Nick said with a smile before closing the door behind him.

"I think she was talking about the baby Nick," Judy said as she unlocked the squad car, " and what was that all that back there?"

"What do you mean?" Nick said nonchalantly as he packed the bags into the back seat.

"I mean, you went all weird for a sec, I saw it in your eyes. What happened?"

"Nothing," he said as he got into the front passenger's seat, "just tired."

"Uh-huh," Judy said after she strapped the fox cub in, "well when you become a little more un-tired, we need to talk about it."

"Are you a shrink? No, no you are not."

"Very funny Nick but I mean it."

"Whatever you say Carrots, whatever you say." Nick knew that he didn't even have a full bead on what was bothering him so but that he would eventually have to tell her something.

 **THANKS SOOO MUCH FOR THE REVIEWS, FAVS AND FOLLOWS, PLEASE KEEP THEM COMING. ALSO, YES, THIS STORY IS ON THE SAME TIME LINE AS MY PREVIOUS ONE, _A BUDDING LOVE_ , WITH A ABOUT THE SPAN OF A YEAR IN THE MIDDLE. STAY TUNED FOR MORE...**


	3. Chapter 3

_**Flashback**_

 _It was a Saturday just like any other. Matthew Wilde, Jr stayed home in the one bedroom flat that he shared with his small family while Vera, his wife went food shopping . He smiled as his young son Nick stumbled out of their bedroom, his chubby little toddler legs encumbered by the long shirt that pooled past his feet and dragged the against to the old and faded carpet. Knowing that they couldn't afford to buy Nicholas anything as frivolous as pajamas, his mother had instead chosen to dress him in his father's old work clothes. They were badly tattered but clean and warm and with his very first day of school coming up in only a few weeks, they couldn't afford to waste money on garments to sleep in when they so desperately needed to save up for his uniforms._

" _Hey Nick-Nack," Mr. Wilde called over his shoulder as Nick yawned and climb onto his lap. Matthew folded the newspaper that he had been scribbling on and placing it on the worn arm of the recliner he was sitting in, he embraced his young cub warmly. Nick wrapped his arms around his father's neck and buried his little face in Matthew's blonde fur._

" _Good morning Daddy, is Mama still out shopping?" Nick asked groggily. He had developed a bit of a lisp ever since his left front fang had fallen out the week before and Matthew thought it was adorable but he didn't want to tell him that. The lisp was a weakness and although he would allow his young son the opportunity to work through it, he'd also not do anything to encourage it. Matthew hugged his son tighter as his thought about his own father. That cold hard fox would say that the only way to get a weakness out of a cub was to beat it out of him. If it had been left up to him, little Nick would be missing a lot more teeth and not because of they fell out naturally. No, Matthew Wilde, Jr, was not his father, he would not beat and brutalize his child in the name of making him a stronger creature. His father would have called him a pansy and a vixen for his style of parenting but he was a firm believer that encouraging positive behaviors was much more powerful than punishing for negative ones. The only thing that he had ever learned from his father's form of cub rearing was to lie well and to cover his tracks so as to not to get caught. That's not the lesson that he want Nicholas to learn. Every generation was supposed to be to better than the one before it and he had always told Nick that he would be the best._

" _Yes Buddy, Mama is out shopping but she'll back soon and you know what she'd be really happy to see?"_

" _What?" Nick said, his huge emerald green eyes looking intently into his father's sapphire blue ones._

" _Well, I bet she'd love to hear you read that book you like about the hippo and the giraffe that became friends. And if you read it nice and clear, I'm sure she'll be soooo happy, she'll just fly"_

 _Nick smiled a gap-tooth grin and then quickly jumped off of his father lap. "I'll go start practicing it now," he said, his eyes a light with excitement. Matthew could already tell that his little cub was taking more care with his words and he smiled_

" _Ah now, first you gotta get some food into you. If you're going to be a scholar, you have to keep your energy up. Mama made you breakfast this morning, its in the bowl on the table."_

" _Is it eggs and cheese?" Nick asked hopefully._

 _Matthew shook his head. Eggs and cheese for breakfast were a rare extravagance that the Wilde family could seldom afford._

" _How about cereal," Nick said as he got closer to the kitchen table, "the kind with sugar on it and itty bitty marshmallow pieces in it?"_

" _Sorry Nick-Nack," he said as he picked his newspaper back up, "no sugary marshmallow cereal today."_

" _Yuck," Nick said as he sat down in front of the bowl on the table, "oatmeal, again?"_

 _Matthew knew that the reason his son ate so much oatmeal was because it was cheap and filling and paying the rent in their rundown building made it difficult to keep any foods of true substance in the home. Smiling, he did what he did best, he thought quick on his feet. "Yes oatmeal. You didn't know? Oatmeal makes you smarter."_

" _It does?" Nick said as he looked at his father in awe._

" _Oh, yeah, it does and with school starting soon, your Mama and I want you to be the smartest creature in your class."_

" _Even smarter than a gorilla?"_

" _Even smarter than_ _ **ten**_ _gorillas."_

 _Nick looked down at the pile of mush in front of him with a new found appreciation and picking up his spoon like a little shovel, he dove in but then stopped. "Daddy," he said curiously, "there's only one bowl on the table, what are you going to eat?"_

 _Matthew made a show of rubbing his stomach and laughed confidently. "What am I going to eat he says. Boy, what a comedian. You're mother and I had a feast this morning before you woke up. I'm so full, the button my britches could pop off at any moment. Now hurry up and eat your breakfast, the colder it gets the more it loses it's special powers to make you smart and Mama is really gonna wanna hear that book. " Nick laughed hard at his father's silliness and then went back to eating. Matthew on the other hand cleared his throat loudly so as to hide the grumbling in his stomach. For the first time in a long time, Matthew wondered, is it really a lie if it protects someone or keeps them safe? He knew full well that this morning, the only thing that his wife had was a crust of bread at his urging and he himself hadn't had a thing to eat since last night. But, he also knew if he told that to Nick, his cub would insist upon sharing with him and the little creature really needed his nutrition. He picked up his newspaper and started to scribble again._

" _Daddy,"_

" _Yes Nick-Nack?"_

" _Whatcha doing with the newspaper?"_

" _I'm looking for a job,"_

" _But you got a job, with Uncle Corty,"_

" _Yes, but," he said choosing his words wisely, "I'm looking for one that pays taxes. Now that you're going to school, I want to contribute as much as I can and that's how adults do it, through taxes."_

" _I don't wanna go to school, I wanna be a Cub Scout."_

 _That last comment had caught Matthew off guard and he placed the newspaper down again. It was no secrete that his little cub wasn't fond of the idea of spending so much time away from Vera in school but this Cub Scout thing was new a development. "Nick-Nack," he said slowly, trying once again to choose his words wisely, "the Cub Scouts are usually all prey mammals. We're foxes, we don't do that." Claiming that it was something that his kind as a whole didn't do was much better than stating the well known but unwritten fact that it was something that they were not allowed to do._

" _Well, then," Nick said between mouthfuls, "I guess I'll be the first one."_

 _Matthew thought for a moment. The chances of his son becoming the first prey Cub Scout were slim to none but this wasn't the time nor the place to dash his hopes and dreams. There were a lot of cold hard truths out there to learn but he wasn't going to force them on the little cub at such a young age. "I guess when you join they'll have to rename you're troop to the_ _ **Fox Cub Scouts**_ _." They both laughed but were interrupted by a loud banging on their apartment door. Nick looked at the door startled but his father knew exactly who it was and before the young cub could make a sound, he grabbed him up quickly and opening up a kitchen cabinet, he stuffed him inside. Nick looked at Matthew confused but his father's blue eyes regarded him with nothing less than cool confidence and control. Matthew looked towards the front door as the banging continued and then back his now scared son. He forced a smile onto his face as he spoke._

" _Hey Nick-Nack," he said, doing his best to sound happy and playful, "we're gonna play a game ok?"_

" _Ok," Nick said, his little voice trembling as tears brimmed in his eyes._

 _Matthew wiped them away gently but quickly and spoke with urgency. "Come on Nick-Nack, you have to play the game right or you wont get a prize and the prize is cookies."_

" _Cookies?" Nick said piping up as his father wiped his little snout with the cuff of his sleeve._

" _Yes," he lied, "chocolate chip, your favorite. But here's the deal, no matter what you see, no matter what you hear, you have to stay quiet and not move. Now its not going to be easy but cookies are a big prize and its never easy to win a big prize. You're gonna hear or see a lot of things that might trip you up but don't let them, ok? Just keep remembering that nothing you see or hear is real. And when you win those cookies, you'll share them with me, right? Promise?"_

" _Yes Daddy," Nick said with a smile and Matthew smiled back. Then he wrapped his arms around his son tightly and did something that his father had never done, something that would never had happened in his wildest dreams. Matthew kissed young Nick on the cheek. " I love you Nicholas, I love you and your Mama, you know that right?"_

" _Yes," Nick said puzzled._

" _And remember what I said, not a sound, not a word,"_

 _Nick nodded his head and just as his father closed the cabinet, the front door came splintering in. A red furred fox came walking in, stepping over the debris._

" _Matty, I love what you and my sister have done to the place," he said as he kicked the now useless door handle away and pulled a gun from his inside jacket pocket, "it has a nice open air kinda feel."_

" _I know what you came here for Cortland and I don't have it."_

" _Oh I know that you don't have it, and I know what you did with, the question is, why did you do it?"_

" _Because the shelter needed the drugs more. Creatures were dying and I couldn't just stand by and let that happen."_

 _Cortland laughed and Nick smiled through the small crack in the cabinet that he could see through. He had been scared at first when he'd heard the front door being kicked in but now that he saw it was just Uncle Corty, he relaxed and got comfortable. He was going to win the game and then they'd all have cookies. "So let me get this straight," his uncle said as he waved his paw about, the large black birthmark on it catching Nick's eye, "you tell me that this'll be the last job you do for me, you pull it, and then you take the goods, my goods and just give them away? What do you call that? A Robin Hood complex?"_

 _Nick's father smiled and although Matthew's eyes never made contact with his,it was as if the young fox could feel his father's presence with him in the small space. The blonde furred fox's blue eyes stared steely into the green eyes of the red one as he spoke clearly and without fear. "It's called a hustle sweetheart." Time seemed to stand still with a young Nicholas P. Wilde frozen in place as he watched his uncle raise a pistol into the air and his father's face disappear._


	4. Chapter 4

Nick shot up with a start, not even remembering when he had fallen asleep. He gasped desperately for air but his lungs refused to fill as he fought off a panic attack. Taking deep breaths, forced himself to take assessment of the his surroundings. His paws, he knew that his paws were gripping something... the bed. He was in bed but where, he thought as he fought off a fear that he hadn't felt in years. Nick could feel small but insistent arms hugging him from behind around his waist and someone's face pressed firmly against his back. Judy, his Judy, was holding him so tightly, it was as if she could shield him the madness that threatened to over take him. His breathing began to even out slowly and as the room came into focus, he couldn't help but see himself and Judy reflected in the mirror in front of him. Usually accustomed to sleeping naked, he had taken to wearing boxers for the time being with the baby around. Judy, for her part, hadn't loosened her grip on a bit and her eyes were screwed shut as she pressed her cheek to the fur of his back.

"Hey Cotton Tail," he said hoarsely. Judy opened her eyes and scooting over, she cupped his face in her paws forcing him to look at her. Violet purple eyes met emerald green ones as she stared at him filled with concerned.

"Nick, Nick, what happened?"

"What do mean, what happened?" he said as he tried to hide the anxiety growing within him. It was as if there was a monster in the room, lurking, hiding, invisible and growling secretly in Nick's ear and yet remaining terrifying out of range. The feeling of utter powerlessness was the most unnerving part. He felt the presence of an unknown enemy who he could not see to protect himself from.

"You were crying," Judy said, her pupils slightly dilated in shock and fear of her own, "you were sweating and shaking and crying."

"What?" Nick said groggily and then he touched a paw to his face and felt a wetness there. He looked over at the infant who slept soundly in his small bassinet by the slightly open window and he fought off the urge to throw the little creature out of it. The green eyed gray furred cub lay there innocently sucking his carrot pacifier with every gentle breath it took. But Nick knew what hide within, beneath its bushy fur and onsie footed pajamas, giving it an adorable appearance that could be nothing other than false.

"It goes tomorrow," he said in a low tone.

"Once again, he is not an it and ..."

"Judy," Nick said forcefully but didn't raise his voice, " I know exactly what it is, better than you and it goes tomorrow."

"Why?" Judy asked confused.

Nick wiped his paws across his face, "Because it father is Cortland McKitt. Because that bastard doesn't deserve to be alive and neither does his bastard."

"Cortland McKitt, the Drug Lord? Nick, how could you possibly know that? I mean just look at him. McKitt is red furred and that little guy is just as gray as I am. If anything _you_ look more like McKitt than the baby." Judy had spoken that last bit jokingly but Nick visibly stiffened at it.

"Well, there's a good reason for that Carrots," he said softly, "he's my uncle."

"Not funny Nick."

"I wasn't joking ," He saw something in her eyes and purposely looked away before he could identify it. "I guess knowing who I'm related to kinda changes how you see me huh?"

Judy didn't even hesitate to breath. "What's in your blood has nothing to do with what's in your heart." She cupped his face in her paws and made him look at her. "McKitt being your uncle doesn't change how I feel about you but it also doesn't change how I feel about that little cub either. How do you even know that he's related to McKitt?"

"Because he has the mark," Nick said looking away again, " the mark of the McKitt, on his paw."

"What mark?" Judy said as climbed out of bed and hurried over to the baby. She gently examined the pads of the cub's feet and paws and found an egg shaped birthmark on his left one. "This thing?" she said looking at him unimpressed, "what does this have to do with anything? You know for a fact the fox is your uncle and you don't even have it."

"That's because I'm a Wilde, not a McKitt. I take after my father but we have no idea if that _creature_ takes after his."

"Nick, please," Judy said as she reached the fox cub when it began to stir and picked him up, "you're being unneccessarily cruel. When was the last time you even saw McKitt, how can you be so sure that he has this same exact mark in the same exact spot?"

Nick stared down at the floor as feelings of anger and distress fought for purchase inside him but his voice remained calm. "I know because I saw it," he said slowly.

"When?"

Perhaps it was something in her tone, or the way she held that babe of the damned to her bosom, or maybe it was just the question itself. Nick didn't know which one it was but he snapped. "When he blew my father's brains out right in front of me, that's when," he yelled as he stood and glared down at and the hated creature that she had pulled tighter into the protection of her arms. "My father had stolen some drugs to cure a form of the bovine flu. Instead of moving it in Tundra town at an exorbitant price, he chose to give it away to a homeless shelter that was doubling as a free clinic and for that Corty killed him," Nick said as his voice broke, "execution summarily of his own brother-in-law all over him giving away just a few measly pills." He brought his paw to his face as if the flesh and fur could act like a shield against the memory that he had been so desperately repressing for years. Nick took a moment to compose himself before speaking. Thanks to his run in with the Night Howler's poison years ago, he was very well aware of what it felt like to lose control. Death would have been more preferable. He took a few deep breaths before he spoke again. "I thought that I had forgotten it, I really did," he said quietly as he shook head, "I hadn't thought about what happened in years and then _it_ came along," he said as he pointed to the cub who's little lids remained closed and ears folded back in peaceful slumber. The memory that had came back in the form of a dream had left him unsettled in a way that few things ever did. He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I can't do this anymore,"

"But Nick," Judy said, trying to call him to reason but he was done.

"Its time to make a choice, Cotton Tail, either that thing goes for good," he said nodding toward the infant in Judy's arms, "or I do."

Judy's eyes regarded Nick imploringly but her foot seemed to step back away from him involuntary and that told him all he needed to know. He looked down for a moment and then smiled ruefully. "So you'd chose that child that you don't even know over me?" Snatching up his clothes from the arm of the chair in front of him, Nick spoke softly. " I was wrong Cotton Tail, you didn't need to make a choice, you just needed a reason to make it."

"Nick, please, he just a baby," Judy called out to him but he was already out the door. He dressed quickly as he walked down the hallway and it did not escaped his notice that Judy didn't even try to bring him back. All because of that damned creature. "Chalk one more up Corty," he said out loud as the cold night air hit his skin and bristled his fur. "You just took somebody else I love from me, that makes three."


	5. Chapter 5

It was the cramps that Nick hated the most. Whenever he crashed with Finnick in the miniature fox's van, something which he had not done of late, he found that the small space made his joints and muscles ache. It wasn't that the van provided little room but rather that the smaller fox had filled it to capacity. Since he found it easy to navigate with his small size, he just never changed it. Nick sat stiffly as he drank too sweet coffee across from Finnick who down a can beer whole before reaching for another one.

"You did the right thing Nick," he said as he popped the lid open and held his beverage with both paws, "If that cub is Corty's, then it aint nothing but trouble."

Nick sighed, "That's what I've been trying to tell Judy, but she cant get that through her thick bunny head. I mean her ears are so huge, she could hear a pin drop from across the street, so I know she can hear me when I'm standing right in front of her."

Finnick snickered, "Dumb bunnies,"

"Thin ice Fin," Nick said before he took another sip of his coffee, "watch it."

"Alright, alright, Jeez, chill-out, it was just a joke."

Nick rubbed his brow and then the back of his neck in frustration, "You know, I'm not finding a great deal of things funny anymore nowadays."

"Don't sweat it fox, she'll get over it soon enough. You can't have a McKitt living in your crib. Aside from your mom, may she rest in peace, they aint nothing but garbage and that kid aint gonna be no better. Why should he your problem? He's probably gonna end up a permanent ward of the state anyway, right? Why not let him get a taste of it early?"

Nick laughed, "Yeah right? Why cant Judy just take my word and understand that?"

"I know one thing, I don't care how young or old a McKitt is, they wouldn't be up in my house without a muzzle on."

Nick froze. "What?"

"Oh, yeah, they've got no code, are shady and are only out for themselves. Putting a muzzle on them is just being nice, I'd really rather light a fire pit and drop the whole entire family in it." Finnick laughed uproariously but Nick's mind began to wander. Suddenly, he was back at that troop meeting, surrounded by a gang of unfriendly looking mammals who were forcefully holding him down. They were Cub Scouts so they were supposed to be trustworthy and he had blindly trusted them. Nick had taken the same oath to honor and help others that had passed through their lips and yet they mercilessly restrained him as they slipped the muzzle over his head. He remembered flailing and screaming to know what he had done wrong, what could he had possible done in his short eight years of life to deserve what his tormentors were doing to him. But all they did was laugh, hold him down, tell him that he was not one of them and then laugh like his suffering was the funniest, most normal and necessary thing that they could have ever seen. Terror was a constant. The whole ordeal couldn't have lasted more than a few minutes but the constant fear of what they might to do next was what had really plagued him. Were they going to tie him up and leave him for dead? Were they going to bury him alive? Would they ever let him go? All of this just because he was a fox? When he was finally free, he ran and ran fast, leaving his dignity and trust somewhere back there in that dark room filled with the laughs and snickers of children who had sworn to uphold justice and protect the weak.

That's what hurt Nick the most that day, the loss of trust. It was like the world that he had thought existed, the one that his mother had painted so expertly for him, was pulled out from beneath his feet. That was when he realized that no matter what you do, you are what people see you as and nothing else so what was the point in trying to be anything else. It would be a few years before he and Finnick would pull their first hustle together but that was when the first seeds of dishonesty and selfishness were planted and it had taken nearly twenty years and a bunny cop from the country to uproot them. One act of evil could determine ones whole outlook on life for the rest of their life but what about one act of kindness? That little cub didn't asked to be born and he surely didn't chose for a Drug Lord to be his father. He was just as innocent as Nick had been all those years ago and now he was repeating the same thing those wretched kids had done. Judging the poor little baby not on what it had done but on what he had perceived it would do. Nick imagined himself putting a muzzle on the baby as it struggled just like he had once and he winced, his heart skipping a beat. The mere thought of doing that to the infant made him sick and his stomach lurched. He had no right to hate that little creature who had done nothing and it was completely wrong for him to be mad at Judy for wanting nothing more than to protect it.

"Uh, hey Nick," Finnick said as he waved his paw in front of his friend's face, "are you ok? You look sick? You gotta puke? If you gotta puke, take that outside."

"What time is it?" Nick asked as he stared absently at the closed doors of the van.

Finnick looked down at his watch, "Its 10:45 in the morning, why?"

"I've made a horrible mistake, I gotta go," Nick said as he got up quickly.

"A mistake, wait, what?"

"No time to explain, thanks buddy, I owe you one," the red fox said as he bolted out of the van doors and on to the crowded Zootopia streets.

"Where are you going?" Finnick yelled as he stuck his head out of the van.

"To finally make things right!"

It wasn't a long run to the building where he and Judy shared a room but Nick was exhausted by the time that he got there. He hadn't slept since the nightmare of his father's death had awoken him the night before and he was body tired. Nick looked around and didn't see their squad car parked on the street as it had normally been but he did see his nosy, neighbors the antelope and gazelle. "Hey, you two," he called to them.

"Yeah?" the gazelle said followed by "what do you want?" from the antelope.

"Where's Judy?"

"She did what you wanted her to do, you jerk!"

Out of the two morons that he was forced to share living space with, he had finally come to the conclusion that he hated the antelope the worst. He didn't bother asking what the horned prey mammal meant since he was pretty sure that they had been eavesdropping the entire time he and Judy were talking. "Did she leave to take the baby somewhere?"

"No," the gazelle said as he shifted one of the paper bags that he was carrying from one arm to another, "a fox from Social Services came to get him. After that, Judy got in the car and drove off."

"A fox from Social Services..." Nick said as he thought quickly to himself. Foxes generally didn't take up government jobs or at least weren't usually hired for them. "Did you get his name?"

"No," the antelope said defiantly.

"Adler O'Shea," the gazelle correct and his friend nudged him.

"Why'd you tell him for, he doesn't care about the kid or her."

"Well he has the right to know."

The two friends went back and forth with each other on the stoop of the building but Nick said nothing as his heart dropped and his blood began to run cold. Adler O'Shea, son of Jonathan O'Shea and Lorna McKitt, his mother's and Cortland's sister. Although Nick felt frozen in place, he knew that his legs were moving and fast. This was not good, Cortland had the baby.


	6. Chapter 6

It was noon by the time Nick arrived at the warehouse he knew Cortland worked out of. He stalked stealthy through the complex remaining unseen until he came to the far end of it. Well hidden behind carefully stacked boxes, Nick watched an exchange take place between his older cousin and his uncle.

"I know why you want the kid Uncle Corty," Adler said as he handed the baby over to Cortland, "I just don't want to see what you're going to do to it."

The red furred Drug Lord looked down at the whimpering bundle in his arms and smiled as he let it drop to the floor. Nick bit his lip so hard, that it bled as he listened to the little cub wail in utter fear and pain. Adler for his part, just grimaced and looked away. He was red furred too like most of the other McKitts but unlike the others, he had his father's brown eyes and wore thin glasses that rested on the bridge of his snout. "I cant watch this," Alder said and Cortland laughed.

"You always had a weak stomach, Ads, you must get that from your father. You're mother and I could rip the wool right off of a lamb when we were cubs."

"Yes, mother always had an odd sense of humor, can I go now? Am I dismissed?"

"Yes Adler," Cortland said as if speaking to a young child, "you are dismissed."

The bifocal-led fox wasted no time leaving as he hurry out of the storage space and closed the door behind him. Cortland turned his attention back to the crying infant on the concrete floor as he pulled out a pistol. "It's such a shame kid," he said as he cocked it, "I always wanted a son and even though I've always had a thing for sables like your mom, I told her not to get pregnant. Even when she did, I forgave her and because I'm such a nice guy, I even gave her money to get rid of you. Its nothing personal but I'm a married fox, so the next in line has to come from my wife, not my mistress. You can understand that right? No hard feelings? Good, tell your mother I said 'hi' when you see her again and that she had the best tail I've ever seen. I really miss that tail. Oh well, lights out kid."

Before Cortland could fire a shot, Nick was there in a flash, his fist crashing down against the side of the older fox's face. Cortland dropped the gun and it clattered against the floor as he fell. "Not again Corty, you're not going to take another innocent life. Not on my watch."

"Nick?" Cortland said in disbelief, "Nick-Nack? Vera and Matty's kid?" He laughed, "Well I'll be, my how you've grown."

"Don't call me Nick-Nack," Nick said as he reached down and grabbed the gun off of the floor.

"I'm sorry nephew, let me not be so informal. How are you Officer Wilde? Are you looking for employment? You're just like you're father, he was very quiet when he moved and that proved to be very usefully."

"You killed my father," Nick said through clenched teeth, " and you were going to kill this cub."

Corty eyed the crying infant and then looked back at Nick again. "What's it to you what I do with him , he's my cub."

"You are disgusting Cortland."

"And you are a weak do-gooder, just like your father and we all know where that got him. I hope there's an empty plot next his that you'll fit after this."

"Too late, you're sister's in it. When you killed her husband, you kill her too, just slower."

Cortland shrugged, "Meh, what can I say? She was weak stock, who married weak stock, and gave birth to weak stock." Nick's finger twitched on the trigger of the pistol as the young cub wailed behind him. It would be so easy to just end his wicked uncle now. No one would say anything about it, after all he was a Drug Lord so no one but his own clients would miss him. And there wouldn't be too much paperwork either. There was no way that Chief Bogo would give him a hard way to go for killing someone who had killed and had ordered the killing of so many others. But what would he tell Judy? She would question him, she would wonder why he found killing this fox necessary even with the knowledge of who he was and what he had done. No, if for no one else, he couldn't kill Cortland out of his love and obligation to Judy.

"Well," Cortland said as he eyed the gun in Nick's paw and then looked into the green eyes that mirrored his, "don't just stand there, do it!"

"No," Nick said resolutely as he lowered the gun, "I'm not going to kill you even though you deserve it. My parents were honorable mammals despite being touched by your hatred and I wont tarnish their memory with your blood on my paws."

"Wrong choice Nick-Nack," said his uncle as he quickly reached for another weapon hidden in his belt but Nick was quicker. Raising the pistol, Nicolas let a bullet fly from the chamber of the gun and Cortland cried out as it made contact with his forearm. "You shot me! You Bastard! You really shot me!?"

"Yeah, yeah, I shot you, big whoop. You shot a lot of creatures, just so happens one of them shot you, get over it." Nick stooped down and picked up the little cub with his free paw and bounced him gently to calm him down. "Cortland McKitt, you are under arrest," he said as he tucked the gun into his pants and pulled out his cell phone. "Hey Clawhauser, yeah its Nick, I need a pick up in the Zootopia Warehouse district. I have the creature that hired the arsonist.

Nick sat on the city bus, his head resting against the thick glass window and the little rescued cub squirming in his arms. It had began chewing on his ear as he held it, After several failed attempts to him to stop, Nick just gave in and let him have his way. "You are quite the stubborn little one, aren't you?" he said softly as he petted the fur of the baby's head. "It's ok, Judy's like that too, once she gets something into her mind she's not letting it go." He held the baby out so that he could gaze into the eyes that looked so much like his own. "Hey kid, how would you like for Judy to be your new mama? She's really nice as you're well aware, I think that she really likes you. And I think I do too." Nick nuzzled his nose against the little creature's and it giggled. Nick did too. "You know, you're actually kind of cute." He cradled the baby against himself again. "Anyway, if she becomes your new mama, then I, by default, become your new daddy. Sorry kid, those are the breaks but with Judy on board, I'm sure it wont be too bad a deal for you. Hey you talk yet?" The little fox babbled and gurgled. "I guess not and we've got to find a name for you don't we?" Nick thought for a long moment before it came to him as if a bolt of lightening and he wondered how he had ever missed it in the first place. "Say, how do you feel about the name Matthew? Its a good name, my dad's and grandfather's. He feel asleep a long time ago and so did your grandmother but its ok. We'll go see them every year and bring them flowers and show them both just how happy we've become. What do you say?"

The baby babbled and Nick took that as his confirmation. "Very good. Now all I have to do is to get your new mother to marry me. Oh believe me, despite my movie star looks and magnetic charm, she's a tough cookie." Nick smiled and looked down at little Matthew, "and we all know how much I love cookies. I just have to find a way for her to take it seriously. Ok, lets practice." He cleared his throat, "Judith Hopps, would you do me the honor of making me the happiest fox alive and marry me? No, no, no, too formal. Hey Carrots, why don't you just marry me, we all know you want to. No, that was too informal. Judy, I..." Nick stopped in mid sentence as he looked out the bus window and saw the exact way that he was going to propose. "Driver," he called, "this is my stop."

Nick dashed off the bus with Matthew in his arms as he raced to the Otterton Floral Shoppe. "Nick," Mrs. Otterton said but Nick just rushed past her in a hurry to get to the back of the store.

"Hey Mrs. O," he called back to her, "cant talk right now, in hurry." He burst the door to Mr. Otterton's workshop open and the startled otter stared in wide eyed shock as the red furred fox stood in the doorway panting.

"Nick, what happened to you," the otter said taking in his disheveled appearance, wild eyes and the fact that he had a baby cradled in his arms. Nick used his free hand to reach into his inside jacket pocket and pulled out his checkbook.

"Emit," he said nearly out of breath but that winning smirking tugging at his lips, "I'm here to buy a seed."


	7. Chapter 7

Nick's feet were once again aching as he walked up the stairs to the room that he unofficially shared with Judy. He would have gladly ridden the train back but Matthew began to cry every time he tried to board. This frustrated Nick because he had already paid for his ticket but eventually, the little creature won out and he seemed to delight in this. His teeny-weeny pudgy paws reached out for everything from tree limbs that Nick had to stretch out for him to touch, to low growing wild flowers that peeked out from the sidewalk. Nick's back was sore from the strain of bending up and down and holding the baby as he explained the world to him, but he didn't mind. In fact, in a way he couldn't quite understand, the whole exchange reminded him of his father and himself when he was a child.

"Ahhh * #%," he swore as he felt a hole in the lining of his jacket which his keys had slipped through. "Sorry Matty," he whispered, "all that I need is for your mother to hear you cussing and know that you learned it from me. Then I'd really be in for it," he chuckled, "maybe I could blame Clawhauser. Think she'd believe me? Here, let me set you down," Nick said and grimaced as he knelt. The baby babbled his discontent and clutched at Nick's leg. "Hey, hey, kid, settle down will ya, if I don't find my keys, we'll both be sleeping on a park bench, or worst, at Finnick's. And let me tell you, you don't want to sleep at Finnick's. For a little guy, he has a snore to wake the dead. Hey, maybe when we go to visit my parents, we can bring bring him along. A few beers, a few sleeping pills, who knows what could happen." Nick laughed and then looked down at little Matthew as he fished the keys out of his pocket.

"Sorry Matty," he said once again, " you're going to learn quick that your new dad has a morbid since of humor at times but you'll get used to it. Or your mother will just force me not to use it around you, we'll see. Usually she would have heard me at the door by now and opened it." He fumbled with the key in the cylinder and when he opened the door, he saw why Judy hadn't heard him. She was sitting in their only chair, in front of the dresser. Her ears were plugged up with ear buds that played a sad Gazelle pop song about unrequited love as she held one of Matthew onesies in her paws and. A large bowl of fresh blueberries sat on the table next to her. "Hey Carrots," Nick said boomingly and Judy saw more than heard him.

"Hey Nick," she said softly as she took out her ear buds. Normally she would have smiled widely and jumped into his waiting arms but instead she just looked at him with eyes that were puffy and barely open from crying and Nick's heart broke.

"Judy I..."

"No," she said raising a paw, " I need to say something. First, I know that hate you for me to ' _feel sorry'_ for you but I don't care. I'm sorry about what McKitt did to your family. You didn't deserve to lose your dad and your mother didn't deserve to lose her husband. I'm sure he was a good person and I'm sorry that you had to see him go." She sniffled. "McKitt is just evil and once I found out the baby's connection to him, I should have just agreed to put him in foster care instead of keeping him with us until he was placed with a family. That was wrong and inconsiderate of me. I thought I was just trying to do what was best for the little guy but really I was being selfish. I had grown attached to him and, and," Judy's voice broke, but she wiped her tears away and continued, "and I just wanted to keep him. I started falling in love with his little coal-black nose , the squishy little pads of his paws, the way his big green eyes looked at me like he, like he," Judy paused to compose herself and bit her lip, "like he was home. But I know now that I was just seeing what I wanted to see not what was actually there. You were right, he needs to be with his own kind, not some silly bunny who wants a baby, but foxes who can show him what he needs to know."

"Hmmm," Nick said, still playing it cool, "well, you are right about two things, Carrots, you should have listened to me and you are quite the silly bunny. But," he said turning to his side and bending down, "since this little creature seems to have a penchant for silly bunny-like things such as carrots, love and affection, and I think he'll do just fine with you as a mom."

"Oh Nick," Judy said and her eyes went wide as he stood up holding Matthew. When the baby saw Judy, he became ecstatic with excitement and fought to get out of Nick's arms. "Traitor," Nick whispered to him as Judy picked him up and both bunny and cub held each other tightly. "And I guess since he has a thing for cute bunnies like me, he really is with his own kind." Nick hesitated. " I was thinking, you know, if you didn't mind, we call him Matthew, name him Matthew, after my dad, you know, if we adopt him."

"Nick, that would be wonderful," Judy said smiling through tear of happiness, but then she froze. "We're not married and even if we were, there's no way that the state would let us adopt Matthew while we're renting a room."

"Oh yeah," Nick said, raising a digit as if he forgot something, "about that." Judy stared at him curiously as he fished through the pockets of his jacket. When he didn't find anything, he began to pat himself down feverishly and smile nervously at Judy. "It's a," he said, "its a, somewhere in here, just give me a minute and I had something that I wanted to ask you too."

"Uh-huh," Judy, said, still not understanding what he was talking about. An envelope fell out Nick's inside pocket and he knelt down to pick it up. "And what do you have to say about all this, Matthew?" the gray bunny said as she bounced the baby in her arms.

"Mwurry me!" Both Nick and Judy looked at the baby in disbelief and he spoke again, "mwurry me!"

"Nick?" Judy said breathlessly as she stared down at him on one knee.

Nick gulped, suddenly more nervous than he could ever recall being in his life. "Thanks a lot kid," he said with a nervous playfulness, "you stole my thunder." Then he looked at Judy. "But will you? Marry _me_ that is, not him." He looked away a little ashamed, "I couldn't afford to buy you a nice ring, but as odd as it may sound I did just buy us a house today. It has three bedrooms and a good size back yard for Matthew to play in." When Judy didn't say anything, Nick got even more nervous and began to rub his neck. "I know this probably isn't the most ideal situation to be in and I can appreciate that. But, um, you don't have to give me an answer right now. If you need some time to..." Judy cut him off by grabbing his paw and pulling him up into a group hug.

"Yes, yes, of course I'll marry you Nick. I don't care about a ring, I care about you, I care about Matthew, I care about our new family." Just then, Judy's cell phone rung and she quickly answered it.

"Hi mom, hi dad,"

"Hey there Jude the Dude," said her father as her mother squinted into the phone's camera.

"Judy," she said, "have you been crying? What's going on?"

"Mom, dad, me and Nick have been dating for a about a year and a half, we just got engaged, we're going to get married, we just bought a house and this is our son, Matthew Nicolas Wilde, the second."

"The third," Nick corrected in a whisper.

"Oh, yes, thank you Nick, the third."

"Cheese and crackers," Stu Hopps breathed before he fainted.

"Stu, Stu get up," Judy's mother, Bonnie, said as she pulled on his arm, and then looked at her daughter. "Judy I don't even understand how this is possible, how can a fox and bunny have a child, its not heard of."

"Oooo," Stu said, finally, coming to, "Bon, I just had the weirdest dream, Judy said that she was marrying a fox, they were moving in together and she had his baby."

"She did Stu, that's exactly what she said."

"Oooo crepes," he said and passed out again.

"Stu, Stu, uh Judy, your father and I will talk to you later but congratulation to you and Nick on the engagement. And I don't know how you made a baby, you should have been married first but none of that matters now. We'll be coming to visit you soon with a few of your brothers and sister and we can't wait to meet our new grandson."

"Ok mom, see you then,"

"I wanna see," Stu said as he stood up again, " I want to see the baby." Judy angled the camera so that her parents could see Matthew clearly and the baby smiled and babbled gleefully.

"Awww," Bonnie said, "he has your fur Judy."

"But he has my ears," Stu said proudly, "short ears run on my side of the family."

"And Nick's eyes," said Bonnie.

"What do you mean Nick's eyes? My cousin Bernny has green eyes, he got 'em from our great Aunt Neeta. Those eyes run in my family too."

"And he can talk too," Judy said delighted, "go on Matty, say something for grandma and grandpa."

"Ahhh, * #%," Matthew said with the biggest smile on his innocent like face.

"Ooooo," Stu said as he fainted again but Bonnie stood there staring into the phone's camera in shock. Judy quickly hung up and then turned to Nick and frowned angrily.

Nick shrugged and smiled, " Oops," he said, "he must have heard it on the train or something."

"Bame claphoser," Matthew said still smiling and Judy's frown deepened.

"Have I ever told you how much I love you because you make me such a better person?" he said and then tapped her nose lightly with his paw. "Because you do."

Judy swatted his paw away. "We're going to have to work on that language around Matthew, right?"

Nick's ear folded back meekly, "yes Carrots,"

"Good and I love you too."


	8. Chapter 8

_**ONE YEAR LATER**_

Bunny Burrows was bursting with excitement. Stu Hopps cleared out a plot of his land and after filling it with over three hundred chairs saw that it was still not enough. In all, they had to make room for over five hundred guest with strict instructions for children who were not in the wedding to play in the fields. Bonnie and Gideon Grey were hard at work for days making platters upon platters of decadent meals and desserts for everyone other from town brought food as well. All of Nick and Judy's friends were there. Clawhauser sat next Chief Bogo and his wife and the sensitive cheetah wiped tears from his eyes as he chatted with the female buffalo about how beautiful the wedding arrangements were. Nick could see Chief Bogo grimace in silent agony and he snickered to himself. He'd wear a hundred stuffy tuxedos everyday of the week to see his boss in a position like this again. It was golden. Seated toward the front where Nick's family would have been if he had cared to invite them, were the Ottertons. Emit smiled at Nick proudly and he smiled back and nodded. He had only known this otter for such a short time but he had become as much as a father as any. Oddly though, some of Nick's blood relatives did show up to the wedding.

His aunt and uncle, Lorna and Jonathan, along with his cousin Adler and his wife Fiona, walked onto the farm grandly as though they were royalty. Nick thought that something like this might happen and smiled coolly as he walked over but kept his paw on the revolver holstered at his hip. The sly fox made sure to keep it in full view so that there was no confusion about what would happen if any of them stepped out of line.

"Nick-Nack," Lorna called to him indignantly and Nick gritted inwardly at the sound of her using the nickname that his father had given him. Matthew Wilde had always said it with a warm affection that Nick was just now allowing himself to remember, but whenever a McKitt said it , it sounded like a mild insult.

"Aunt Lorna," he said as he tapped the hilt of his gun lazily, "Uncle Jonny, Ads, and is that Fiona? My dear, you get prettier and prettier with every year I don't see you."

"Oh Nicky," the platinum vixen said as she batted her eye lashes and blushed, "you say the sweetest things."

Nick nodded. "So how is college going for you? Did you ever get your degree?"

"Awe naw, Nicky, I finally figured out that I didn't need all of that book learning to get ahead," she said tapping her head with her paw, "I got street smarts."

"Understood Fi, I know there aren't enough books in the world to teach what you need to know."

"You know what," she said perking up, " I had a professor who used to say something similar, you know him?"

Nick shrugged,"Dejavu,"

"Bless you," she said, thinking that he had just sneezed, "and besides Adler teaches me everything I need to know."

Nick looked at his cousin and smiled as he spoke, " I'm sure he does, Fi, I'm sure he does."

"Nick-Nack," Lorna said getting annoyed with the exchange, "stop telling Fiona how stupid she is, she's too dumb to know that you're insulting her."

"Sooo, what brings you all here?"

Lorna rolled her eyes. "We're here to see you marry a bunny, numb-skull. My nephew, the first predator to make a prey his bride. What is the world coming to? I'm just glad she's getting the Wilde name and not the McKitt."

Nick smiled mirthlessly as he pointed to her husband, Jonathan. "See him, that's your punching bag, and that one over there," he said pointing to his cousin, "he's your son. I," he said, pointing both of his paws at himself, "are neither. Watch your tone, watch your tongue."

Lorna frowned deeply and was about to say something else when a fuzzy toddler sized ball of gray fluff dressed in a tuxedo that matched Nick's, caught their attention. It was running toward them at full speed as one of Judy's little sisters chased behind it. "Matty," she called in a high pitched shrill that was just one octave away from breaking glass, "you get back over here this instant. You know that your mama's gonna tan your hide if you get your clothes dirty before the wedding and I won't fair any better if I let you."

"Daddy, daddy, daddy," Matthew called and Nick took a few steps back from his family so that when his young son reached him, they wouldn't be too close. While keeping his eyes on them, Nick bent slightly and scooped up his son as the little fox grabbed onto the fur of his neck. He used his free hand to hold his son close to him while the other one that had just been fingering the gun now gripped the hilt. When Nick wouldn't take his eyes off of his aunt and her clan, Matthew got impatient and grabbed his father's cheeks with both of his tiny paws and made him look at him. "Daddy, Gloria won't let me have a carrot pup-cake, and wanna carrot pup-cake. Can I have one?" Matthew said, pouting as he pointed an accusing paw at the adolescent brown furred bunny who batted her foot paw against the ground in annoyance.

"Judy said that he can't have any treats, including _**cupcakes**_ ," she said as she placed both of her paws on her hips just like her older sister and stared at the little creature in Nick's arms.

"Now is that true Matty," Nick said with a soft gentleness that seldom anyone but Judy ever heard and Matthew buried his face in the fur of his father's neck, embarrassed.

"Yes daddy."

"So if mama told you, no, to cupcakes, why are you asking me for some?"

The little cub looked up at his father, Nick, and smiled sheepishly. "Bacuz you aways say yes, daddy."

"Well that's because we're friends Matty but friends don't get friends in trouble now do they?"

"Mama says Unca Finny gets you into trubble aw da time."

Nick cleared his throat. "Matty," he said, trying to sound stern and avoid the topic of the mischief that he and Finnick used to get into.

"No," Matthew said as he buried his face in the crook of Nick's neck.

"And family doesn't get family in trouble either, right?" Nick was talking to his son but his eyes never diverted from those of his nonferrous aunt as he spoke. "And you know that your auntie will get in big trouble with mama if you get dirty. Do you want that?"

"To get dirty?" Matthew said hopefully as he poked his head out and looked up at Nick.

"Nooo Matty, to get your auntie in trouble."

Matthew looked down. "No," he said while fidgeting with Nick's bow tie.

"Good." Nick looked from left to right and then spoke in a low and secretive tone. "Now, can you two keep a secret?" Both children nodded in agreement. "I hid a pack of sugar cookies over by the tree next to the barn. The both of you can split them but whatever you do, don't tell Judy and no crumbs on your clothes." Gloria and Matthew gleamed gleefully at the prospect of food since they hadn't eaten anything since early that morning and it was almost time for lunch. Matthew was about to jump out of his father's arms but then he looked Nick square in the eyes.

"Daddy,"

"Yes Matty,"

"Why you gotta a gun?"

"To shot people with," Nick said plainly and the little cub looked at Lorna and her family and then back at Nick.

"Ok daddy,"

"Come on Matty," Gloria said hurriedly, "if Judy catches us and finds out that we were eating cookies, neither of us'll be eating anything in for a while."

Matthew grabbed his father's face again with both paws and kissed him on his nose. Nick in turn, kissed his son on the forehead, while never losing eye contact with Lorna and his paw still on the hilt of his pistol. The trigger was just a finger away. "Thank you daddy."

"Yeah, thanks Nick," Gloria said grabbing Matthew out of Nick's arms and with the cub in tow, she ran towards his secret hiding place.

Adler looked on at the whole exchange in shocked awe. "That's Cortland's son."

"What are you talking about?" Nick said obviously annoyed, "Matty's my kid with Judy. Besides, Corty doesn't have any kids. Don't tell me Fi is rubbing off on you."

"But I saw," he began but Lorna reached out and struck her son with the back of her paw. Fiona opened her clutch purse and pulling out a stick of gum, she popped it into her mouth. "I don't see what the big deal is. If Nicky said he made it with a bunny and had a baby then he made it with a bunny and had a baby. Its just biology."

"That's right Fi," Nick said as a smile tugged at his lips, "just biology."

Adler looked from his mother to Nick and then back again. "But ma," he said astounded, "I saw him, him, that's, that's Cortland's...ow." Before Adler could finish speaking, his mother back handed him again and he fell onto his britches. Fiona's light hazel eyes looked around dumbfounded.

"What?" she said confused, "the kid is Cortland's what? I mean he's going up the river without a paddle for a long time, so he aint gon' care. He's got bigger fish to fry."

"He's Cortland's great-nephew," Jonathan said, speaking for the first time since Nick walked up. "As he is Lorna's and mine."

"Of course he is," Lorna chimed in, "I mean, didn't you see all of that fluffy gray fur and his feet are way too big for a cub his age and don't get me started on the size of his ears,"

"But the teeth though, those are definitely Nicky's." Fi winked at Nick but her husband Adler sneered at him, his brown eyes burning. Nick for his part, paid neither of them any attention but kept his focus on his deadly aunt.

"Yup," he said, his paw still keeping the hilt of his gun warm, " _my_ son's got _my_ teeth." Lorna looked down at Nick's weapon and then back at him.

"Well Nick-Nack," she said impatiently, "are you going to show us to our seats or did we come all of this way for nothing?"

Nick smiled widely, "Of Aunt Lorna, I wouldn't dream of having you all waste a trip." He stepped back and sweeped his arm out. "Please, after you."

"don't be stupid Nick-Nack, if we walk ahead of you, we won't know where we're going."

"Ooo, I can assure you that I'm anything but stupid, Aunt Lorna. If I was, I'd turn my back on you and we both know that I'm not going to do that. Now, all of you, walk." They began to move and to their great dismay, Nick seated them in amoungst some of the officers that he had invited from the precinct. He brought two fingers to his forehead in a parting salute to his estranged family as he spoke. "Enjoy the wedding," he said in a condescending tone, " and thanks a bunch for coming." Looking out to field over by the barn house, he saw his son, Matthew, and Judy's little sister ,Gloria, eating the cookies he had hidden there as they laughed. He smiled to himself at the fact that their pure innocence allowed them to enjoy something so simple as a treat of cookies shared secretly between friends. At that thought, Nick's breath caught and his throat seemed to tightened as a memory of him and his father surfaced unbiddened.

" _Hey Nick-Nack, come on, get up," Matthew Wilde, Jr. whispered to his half sleep son. Nick had been curled up in his mother's arms in the bed that they all shared when his father had come home late that evening._

" _Daddy?" Nick said groggily as he bawled little red furred paws into a fists and rubbed his eyes._

" _Yup buddy, its me, come on, lets go, I have a surprise for you,"_

" _A surprise!" Nick said excited and his father shushed him and laughed softly._

" _Cool it Nick-Nack or you'll wake your mother." Nick nodded as a wide grin formed on his face and his father gently picked him up and carried him into the living room. Nick covered his mouth with tiny paws as his eyes lit up at the site that awaited him on a side table by his father's old and weathered recliner._

" _Cookies!" he whispered excitedly, "you got us cookies! Thank you daddy!"_

" _Correction buddy," Matthew Wilde said as he set his son down, "I got_ _ **you**_ _cookies and you're welcome. What you do with them is your business." The blonde furred fox smiled with a tired satisfaction as he watched his young cub run like a bolt of red lightning to the box of cookies. He sat in his recliner and leaned back sleepily as Nick hurried past him to the kitchen. He started dozing off as he heard Nick counting but woke up when he heard paper towels being torn. Matthew got up immediately, knowing that his son wasn't at an age where he could understand their need to conserve even the simplest of things due to their lack of money. He hoped that by the time Nick was old enough to understand, it would no longer be a consideration but for now, he rushed to see what his son was doing. "Hey Nick-Nack," he said as he walked into the kitchen, "what are you doing buddy?"_

" _There are thirteen cookies in this box daddy,"_

 _A smiled tugged at the corner of his lips but Matthew tried not to show it as he leaned against the frame of the kitchen door way and stared down at his son. "That's right, Scout, a baker's dozen, what about it?"_

 _Nick had placed three paper towel squares on the table and went about carefully placing one cookie on each sheet until there was only one left. Matthew watched his son in silence, impressed with his ability do math at such a young age. He was about admonish him though that if he was trying to split the cookies up so that they would last longer, then he'd better off leaving them in the box, but the young Wilde held the last cookie up and tears began to fill Nick's eyes. Matthew knelt down and looked at his cub puzzled. "Hey Nick-Nack, what the matter, is there something wrong with the cookie?"_

" _Everybody gets four cookies," he said sniffling, "but then there's this cookie so somebody isn't gonna get a cookie and I cant fix it."_

 _Once again, Matthew was shocked into silence as he regarded his son in front of him. He wasn't trying to figure out how to horde the cookies, he was trying to find a way to share them. "Nick-Nack, those are your cookies. They're for you alone, not mommy and me, just_ _ **you**_ _."_

" _No, " Nick countered and sniffled again, " just_ _ **us**_ _but now somebody will get one less cookie." At such a young age, Nick couldn't understand the look in his father's eyes but saw them turning slightly red. "Daddy,"he said, placing his paws on Matthew's knees, " are you gonna cry too?"_

 _Matthew sniffled quickly and rubbed his eyes. "No tears here Nick-Nack, just allergies," he lied to keep his son from knowing how touched he was by the kindness that he no idea a child of his could show. Nick wiped his own eyes like his father._

" _I got allergies too," he said trying to mimic the blue eyed fox and Matthew laughed._

" _Do you now? Well we're going to have to find out exactly what we're allergic too and get rid of it."_

" _Maybe mommy can help," Nick said hopefully._

" _Maybe mommy can help with what?" Vera Wilde said sleepily as she walked into the kitchen wearing an old and worn out rob and a well aged night gown. "What are you two conspirators doing up at 3 o'clock in morning in my kitchen?" Her tone was warm as she was happy to see that her husband was home but then she saw the empty bakery box on the table and its contents spread out on paper towel squares on the table._

" _We're having cookies, mommy and I just figured out how to solve my problem!"_

" _Matthew," she said wearily,_

" _I bought them for Nick-Nack before I got home," This caused his mother to frown deeply with concern but as Nick stood by the table breaking up the last cookie into three pieces, he watched his father stand up and kiss his mother on the lips. Matthew wrapped his arms around her and gave her a tired smile. "I got them, Vera, fair, square, and honest, just like we talked about."_

" _But you were out with Cortland tonight, weren't you?"_

 _Matthew sighed. "Sometimes turning over a new leaf takes some time, Baby, but I'm not going to let my family go without in the process. Just a few more jobs with your brother and then I'm done."_

 _Vera nodded. "Just please be carefully. We need you, I don't know what Nicholas and I would do without you."_

 _Matthew kissed her again. "You two are the most important things in my life. I'm not going anywhere."_

 _Vera reached up and touched her paw lovingly to her husband's face and smiled. "Oh and speaking of important, Nicholas really shouldn't be having cookies. He has a loose tooth and it could drop at any moment."_

" _Well then, since its on its way out anyway, lets let him rot it out."_

" _Done!" Nick excitedly exclaimed, obviously pleased with himself. "This is yours mommy," he said pointing to one set of cookies, "cuz ladies first." Matthew Wilde smiled at the thought that the manners he was instilling in his son were sinking in. "And daddy, these are yours and then these are mine."_

 _Vera smiled at her son. " Well, what are cookies without milk? Matthew, can you please get some cups and Nicholas, can you please pull the chairs away from the table so that we can all sit down?" Both the blonde furred, blue eyed fox and his red furred, green eyed cub went about their tasks as Vera took the milk out of the fridge. The small family of meager means sat down to a rare treat of cookies and Nick's heart warmed with a familiar glow of contentment and security as he sat happily between the two people he loved the most._

It would be years before Nick's mother would tell him that his father would do odd jobs at the local bakery, sometimes working all day just so that he could be paid in treats for him. His father had lied though, he had left them and they had fared badly without him. To his credit, he didn't go willing and even though his murderer would never be prosecuted with his death, he was still going to get justice and that was all that mattered. He brushed away a tear quickly as he saw Gloria diligently patting Matty down. Then she picked him up and ran quickly to the main house where the rest of the bridal party was.

"It's all getting to you isn't?" Finnick, the smaller fox who served as his best mammal said as he stood next to him, "I told you not to do it."

"That you did, Finny, that you did. But hey, if things don't work out, I'll just come live with you in your van."

"No you won't. The rug rat can stay cuz we're around the same height so he won't crush any of my stuff. You can sleep on the bumper." They both laughed and Finnick slyly offered Nick a flask but Nick waived it away. Then, changing his mind, he grabbed it and taking a hasty but discrete sip from it, he stealthily handed it back to his best friend. "Hey was that Fiona I saw you talking to earlier?"

"Yup, she and Ads are married now."

"Wow, I knew he was younger than you but I didn't know he took your hand-me-downs."

"Hey, a guy like Adler is bound to get someone's sloppy seconds, why not mine?" They both laughed uproariously but stopped when the guest began to look at them. _**Here come's the Bride**_ , began to play and Nick abruptly turned around to face his soon to appear better half. He cleared his throat nervously and Finnick nudged him playfully.

"You got this Nick," he said with a smile and a wink. Nick winked back and then watched as some of Judy's older sister's walked down the aisle arm-in-arm with either their brothers or husbands. When the fifth one passed, he cleared his throat again, knowing that Judy wasn't too far off. There was a mixture of "awes" and laughs and Nick swelled with pride as his son, Matthew, walked down the aisle holding his young aunt Gloria's paw. He walked carefully as he balanced the ring his father was to give his mother on a pillow and Nick could see that his little cub was taking his very job seriously. Gloria released his paw so that he could take the last few steps to his father alone but he tripped on a pebble and stumbled forward. Everyone gasped but Nick's sharp reflexes never skipped a beat and he caught his son just in time. Finnick caught the pillow and ring but Matthew began to tear up in an embarrassment.

"I'm sorwy daddy," he whispered brokenly as he buried his face in Nick's neck, "I messed evewything up."

"What do you mean Matty," Nick said soothingly, " that's just what I call a dramatic entrance. No harm, no foul." The cub looked up at his father and smiled.

"Really?"

"Really, now go sit with grandma, its almost time for mama to come out." Matthew Nicholas Wilde, III began to run over to Bonnie Hopps outstretched arms but then Finnick called him back over.

"Hey cub," he whispered barely moving his lips, "take this pillow with ya." Matty grabbed the pillow and then took Gloria's hand as she lead him over to her mother. Nick watched as he sat on Bonnie's lap and then turned his attention back to white carpeted aisle as the the music started over and all quieted. He took a deep breath and stood up straight as he looked dead ahead and waited for his future to walk towards. He wasn't disappointed as the love of his life, Judy Hopps, glided down the aisle arm-in-arm with her father, Stu. Nick marveled at how beautiful she looked in her billowy white wedding gown and wispy veil. He was the most fortunate mammal in the world, he thought to himself as he extended his paw to her father to shake his. Mr. Hopps sniffled perfusely as he shook Nick's paw and handed his daughter off to the fox, then he sat down next to his wife.

"Pull yourself together Stu," Mrs. Hopps whispered as Matty shifted in her lap, "you've done this over fifty times."

"I know," he sniffled, "but it doesn't get any easier to give one of my girls away. They're all still my babies."

"It's ok grandpa,"Matty said as he handed his grandfather a handkerchief, "here a hanky, I only used it once." Stu took the square clothe and blew his nose before picking up Matthew and giving the young cub huge hug. Nick and Judy watched the whole exchange and then she then turned to look at him.

"My-lady," Nick said as he gave a gentlemammally bow, and held a paw out to her. Judy smiled as she took it and they began to walk to the marriage alter.

"This is the happiest day of my life," she said.

"Mine too,"

"I wish it could last forever,"

"Well then, if that's the case, you'll just love who I got to officiate the wedding," Nick said smirking mischievously as he lead Judy to her seat on the makeshift stage.

Judy stared at him puzzled as he took as a seat next to her and her eyes bulged as she saw who was officiating their wedding. The frown that formed on her face as she turned to look at Nick didn't steal a thing away from her beauty and the smile on Nick's lips never cracked as he blew her a kiss.

"I love you Carrots," he whispered.

"You are going to pay for this big time, Nicholas Wilde," she whispered out of the side of her mouth and Nick chuckled softly.

"Ooooo, I'm counting on it, Cotton Tail, I'm definitely counting on it."

"Ladies...and...Gentlemammals...we are... gathered...here …...today...to...join..."

 **-THE END-**


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